CuZn Whole House pH Balancing System

Increase the pH of Acidic Water to Neutral

What Is Acid Water?

Acid water is water with
a potential hydrogen (pH) of less than 7. pH refers to the amount of
hydrogen ions mixed in with the water. pH is measured on a scale from
0 to 14, and 7 represents neutral where the water is neither
alkaline nor acidic. Zero through 7 indicates acidity, the lower the
number the higher the acidity. Seven through 14 indicates alkalinity,
the higher the number the higher the alkalinity.

Like the Richter scale for measuring earthquake intensity, the pH scale
is logarithmic. A solution with a pH of 8.0 is ten times more alkaline
than a solution with a pH of 7.0. A solution with a pH of 9.0 is 100
times more alkaline than a solution with a pH of 7.0.

Why Is Acid Water Bad?

Although there are many beneficial uses of acidic water -- it
is a natural astringent for washing your face, it can relieve dry and
itchy skin, it can expedite the healing of skin problems, it can
kill bacteria when washing produce, etc. -- a low pH of less than 6.5
can wreak havoc in your home.

The corrosive nature of acidic water causes metal ions such
as iron, manganese, copper, lead and zinc to leach into the water, causing
elevated levels of toxic metals in your water. Signs of
acid water are corrosion of fixtures, blue staining (from copper pipes)
or rust staining (from iron pipes). Acidic water can also cause pinhole
leaks and pipe failure over time. It may also
cause aesthetic problems, such as a metallic or sour taste.

How to Raise Water's pH

One of the most convenient methods to raise pH is to use a calcite,
which is a crushed and screened white marble media which can inexpensively
be used to neutralize acidic or low pH waters to a neutral, less corrosive
effluent. A Calcite filter will typically raise the pH of the water to
around 7.0 and add 1-3 grains of hardness (30 to 50 ppm of hardness)
depending on the alkalinity level and the amount of calcium and magnesium
(hardness) of the water. Calcite has the same properties of Himalayan
rock salt in that when salt rocks are added to water, the rocks stop
dissolving when the water pH hits 7.0. When all the calcite has been
dissolved, that means it is time to add more calcite.